Open-pit coal mining in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The United Kingdom produces about ten million tons of coal a year from open-pit mines. The majority comes from Scotland , with the largest operator there being the Scottish Coal subsidiary of Scottish Resources Group ; they are rather unforthcoming about the locations of their mines.
Statistics on open-pit coal mining are compiled by the British Geological Survey
from information provided by local planning authorities, and available at .
Any given site does not last very long - four or five years at extraction rates of up to a quarter-million tons a year. Open-pit sites active in 2010 include :
on the Glamorgan
coast. The project started in 2007 and is expected to last 17.5 years.
closed in 2008, but there is a plan to build an 80-hectare 165-metre open-pit mine to extract a remaining 6Mton reserve of anthracite, for which a planning application was registered in July 2010 .
Statistics on open-pit coal mining are compiled by the British Geological Survey
British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS headquarters are in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, but other centres...
from information provided by local planning authorities, and available at .
Any given site does not last very long - four or five years at extraction rates of up to a quarter-million tons a year. Open-pit sites active in 2010 include :
Miller Argent in Merthyr Tydfil
Miller Argent run the 'Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme' in eastern Merthyr Tydfil, which involves mining the coal from under 367 hectares of land made derelict by earlier coal-mining operations; the coal will be provided to the Aberthaw Power StationAberthaw Power Station
Aberthaw Power Station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations situated on the coast of South Wales, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. It is actually located on the waterfront of the nearby villages of Gileston and West Aberthaw on Limpert Bay...
on the Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
coast. The project started in 2007 and is expected to last 17.5 years.
Tower Colliery site in Hirwaun
The deep mine at Tower CollieryTower Colliery
Tower Colliery is the oldest continuously working deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, and the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys...
closed in 2008, but there is a plan to build an 80-hectare 165-metre open-pit mine to extract a remaining 6Mton reserve of anthracite, for which a planning application was registered in July 2010 .
Nant-y-Mynydd
Energybuild Ltd operates an opencast site here ; it was estimated to have 450kton of recoverable coal in 2006, which has mostly been excavated between 2006 and 2009. The overburden was sold as road stone.UK COAL active sites in 2010
- Long Moor: 725kton initial reserve
- Lodge House (Derbyshire): 1Mton initial reserve; further 800kton awaiting planning approval August 2011
- Cutacre (Greater Manchester, between Bolton and Salford): 900kton initial reserve
- Steadsburn (fifteen miles north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne): 1Mton initial reserve plus 300ktons of fireclay
- Stobswood, at Stobswood near MorpethMorpethMorpeth may mean:*Morpeth, Northumberland, England**Morpeth , a former parliamentary constituency*Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia*Morpeth, Ontario, Canada*Morpeth School - a secondary school in the East End of London, England...
in NorthumberlandNorthumberlandNorthumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
.http://www.ukcoal.com/sm-stobswoodhttp://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2231235
UK COAL prospective sites in 2010
- Hoodsclose, Co. Durham (2200 kton coal + 500kton fireclay)
- Potland Burn, Northumberland (2,000 kton)
- Park Wall North, Co. Durham (1275 kton)
- Bradley, Co. Durham (550 kton) - rejected in February 2011 though UK Coal is appealing
- Huntington Lane, Shropshire (900kton)
- Blair House, Fife (700kton)
- Former Minorca Colliery (Measham, Leicestershire); 1250 kton + 250 kton fireclay - planning permission granted July 2011, production expected to commence summer 2012
- Butterwell Disposal Point (Northumberland); 1000 kton + 200kton fireclay